Pressing-machine control



Aug. 2, 1927.

Filed July 2e, `1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A TTORNEYS v 2 41 'l Aug 927 P. N. BRAUN PRESSING MACHINE CONTROL filed July 26. 1924 2 sheets-sheet 2 AToRNEYS.

ftlatented ug. 2,` 1927,

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcE.`

` PHILIP N. BRAUN, F SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO THE PROSPEBITY COMPANY, INC., 0'15` SYRACUSE, NEW YOR'K, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PRESSING-MAQHINE CONTROL.

Application fried July ae, 1924. serial No. 723,500.

This invention relates to power presses and particularly to garment and laundry pressing machines and has for its object a particularly simple and efficient mechanism by which the movable element or press head is preliminarily closed in advance of the linal application of pressure thereto, and the preliminary closing movement is controlled by the power` actuator whereby when the operator sets the machine in motion,the press head is preliminarily closed by itself as by gravity to a safety first position, that is, a position so close to the work between the pressing elements, that it is impossible for the operator to have his hands or fingers between the pressing elements, and whereby. if for any reason the pressing element is not brought down to the safety first position.

on account of obstructions, or for any other reason, the power will not be effectively applied to the movable pressing element but the power transmitting` connections will merely idle.

The invention consists in the novel features and in the combinations and construe,

tions hereinafter set forth and claimed and described.`

Figures 1 and 2 are side elevations of this pressing machine, the-same being shown as open in Figure 1 and as closed in Figure 2.

'Figure 3 is a fragmentary front elevation thereof.

Figure 4 is a detail view of the clutch mechanism.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the cam.

This pressing machine comprises generally cooperating pressing elements, one of which is movable toward and from the other, a power men'ibeigconne tions operated by the power member to apply pressure to the movable element, such connections being non mally arranged in ineffective position to transmit power and movable into efectivo position by a preliminary closing movement of the movable element, independent of the power member, the movable element initially closing automatically here. shown as by gravity. an actuator for the power member, and means operated by the actuator for'controlling the preliminary closing movement of the movable element.

I have here shown my invention as embodied in a conventional type of pressingI machine comprising a stationary pressing element or buck 1, a movable pressing element or head 2, movable toward and from the buck 1 the buck 1 being mounted upon a bracket 3, which in turn, is mounted upon a frame including a table 4 supported by legs or pedestals 5, 6. The head 2 is usually carried by a lever or a yoke 7 pivoted at 8 between its ends to a standard 9 extending upwardly of the rear leg 6.of the frame, the head 2 being carri-ed on the front-arm of the lever 7 and the reararm having a counter weight 10 thereon.

11 is the power member, and the connections operatedby the power member, in addition to the lever 7 as here illustrated, include a toggle including a link 12 pivoted at 13. to the rear arm of the lever 7, and a link 11 pivoted at 15 to the link 12 and at 16 to the frame or rear leg 6 thereof. the link 14 normally extending downwardly and forwardly from the pivot 15. The connections further include a third link 17 pivoted :m18 to the power lever 11 and connected at 19 to a downward extension 20 of the link 12, by a pin-and-slot connection, the pin 21 being on the extension of the link 12 and the slot 21a being formed in the link 17..

The power member 11 is a forwardly and. rearwardly extending lever pivoted between its ends lo the frame, and the link 17 is pivoted to the rear arm of the lever 11 Usu-- ally the power lever 11 and. toggle link 14 are mounted. upon the same pivot 16. These connections are normally arranged in the position shown in Figure 1 and obviously if power is applied to the lever 11, the connection, 17 will idle. that is, the power' of the lever l1 will be inedective on the toggle and the head However, vwhen the links 12 and 1l have been moved to nearly straightened position and the link 17 to nearly upright position, the power of the lever 11 will be applied to the link 17 in a right angular direction to the power lever, and the pin 21 now being at the lower end of the slot 21' is thrust on by the 'link 17 and will cause the lioint of the toggle to move nearer the dead center line of the toggle and thus apply pressure to the head 2.

The construction thus far described per se forms no part of this invention and in so far as my invention is concerned, any connections or toggle linkage which moves from an ineffective position to an effective here shown comprises an position by av preliminary closing of the press head, may be used.

The head 2 is constructed to close automatically and for this purpose, the head or the weight on the front arm of the lever 7vis greater than the weight on the rear arm of the lever 11 so that the lever tends to move by gravity towards closed position.

The actuator for the power lever 11 as intermittently movable shaft 22 having acam or an eccen- .tric 23 thereon, which coacts with a face 24 by a pin-and-slot connection, the link l2 setoperating to permit a preliminary clos-l being shown as formed with a bracket 12l on its front side, which bracket is formed with the forwardly and rearwardly extending slot 28 in which works the pin 29 on the rear end of the link 26. This bracket 12EL coacts with the stop ,14a when the press` is opened to limit the opening movement thereof, this stop 14a being provided on the link 14 in position to engage the bracket 12 as seen in Figure 1 when the press is open. l

The angle of the crank is such that when the press` head is open or in its po? sition shown in Figure 1, the pin 29 is at the rear end of the slot 28 and thus prevents forward movement of the link 12, and hence downward movement of thehead 2. However, when the shaft 22 starts to make a half revolution, the crank being on the eccentric withdraws the link 26 away from the link 12 so that the head is free to close by gravity before the eccentric finallyde-v presses the lever 11.' In-other wordsfupon the initial movement of the shaft 22, the link 26 tends to move away from the toggle link 12 of the press head 2. The power lever is held against the cam to followit by a spring 11a.

There are thus two sets of connections operated by an actuator-common to both, one

ing movement of the press head and to per- -mit the other set to be brought from ineffective to effective position, and the other set operating yto transmit the pressure to the head after being first brought into effective position by such preliminary closing` movement. Y y

The mechanism for intermittingly ac:

tuating the shaft 22 comprises a constantly running electric motor 30 and suitable gearing and periodic clutch mechanism between the shaft 31 of the motor and the Shaft 22, such gearin@r and clutch mechanism being located within the housing whiclris ,suits ably supported by the frame of the machine.

The gearing comprises a worm 33 mounted on the motor shaft 31 and meshing with 4the worm wheel 34 mounted on or 'concentric with the shaft 22 and rotatable relatively thereto. The clutch mechanism comprises a shiftable clutch section 35 mounted on and rotatable with the shaft 22 and clutch` pins 36 shiftable b the clutch section 35 into and out of holes 3 formed in the wheel 34. The pins are guided in a suitable guide disk 38 mounted onvshaft 22 adjacent to wheel 34,

the ends of the pins being tapered andalso the. holes 37 being complimentally tapered so that the pins quickly release themselves, when the force tending to holdV them in, iS released. The thrust of the clutch section 35 is not transmitted directly to the pins` but to the pressure ring 39 slidable on shaft 22, through which pressure ring the pins slide. The ring thrusts against shoulders 40 on the pigs. The shifting motion of the section 235 is yieldingly transmitted to the ring 39 through comparatively `light springs 41. A heavy main spring 42 shifts the clutch ser;- tion 35 to its out7 position. The clutch section 35 is shifted in position against the springs 41, 42 by a shifter arm or lever 43 pivoted at 44 to the frame and operated as will be hereinafteridescribed. y

This leverv43 has an arm 45 extending upwardly and inwardly under the table 4 where itgis'connected to mechanism for actuating it to throw the clutch section 35 into engaged position. The mechanism for actuating the lever 43 is'here shown as a solenoid ,46 located within a suitable housing 47,' the core"48 of the solenoid being connected to the; horizontal arm 45 of the lever 43 by a pin-and-slot connection 49. The solenoid may be of any suitable form, size and construction and as that here shown is a commercial article of manufacture, further description is thought to be unnecessary, it being sufficient to bear in mind that when the coils of the solenoid are energized,

lthe core 48 is pulled downwardly moving the lever 45 in such direction as to shift the clutch section 35 vinwardly and hold it in while the press head is closing. The current through the solenoid is controlled preferably by. two push buttons 50 connected in series with the solenoid so that both push buttons must be depressed and held` depressed to hold the solenoid energized.

To close the press, the push buttons 50 are operated causing the clutch section 35 to be thrust to the left against the spring 42 and thus carry the pins 36 into the holes 37 loo of the driving worm wheel 34 so that the shaft 22 turnsv with the wheel 34, as long as the operator holds the push Ybuttons depressed. The initial part of the turning of the shaft 22 causes' the link 26 to tend to move away from the toggle link and permit the press head 2 to close by gravity, and in so doingbring the toggle links 12, 14 and the link 17 into effective position so that the movement of the power lever 11 by the eccentric 23 will apply pressure to the head 2. When the head 2 is closed as described the operator removes his fingers from the push buttons 50 and the head will remain closed as long as desired. To open the press, the operator again presses both buttons 50 and the shaft 22 makes another half revolution. However, during the opening movement of thev press, it is not necessary to hold the push buttons 50 depressed, as means is provided for holding the clutch in Q during the half revolution of the shaft 2 which permits the opening of 'the press. This means is here shown as a cam ring 51 carried by the casing 32 concentric with the shaft 22 and a follower 53 on the face of the clutch section 35 opposed to the cani ring. This cam ring is provided with a low semiy circular portion or half 54 and a high semicircular portion or half 55. When the press is open the follower is at the starting end of the low surface 54 and when the push buttons are depressed and the solenoid energized, the follower moves away from this low portion 54 and is held away from the same as long Vas the p ush buttons are held depressed.

During the closing of the press, the follower moves along the low face 54 but is spaced apart therefrom and in the event-the operator removes either or both hands from the push buttons, obviously, the spring 42 will react and throw the clutch section out thereby disconnecting the pins fromy the drive wheel 34.

The operator determines by the feel of the machine, when the press is closed and the power applied and removes one or both hands from the push buttons.

In opening the press, a momentary depression of the push buttons will again cause the solenoid to throw the shiftable clutch section 35 in and during the initial part of the rotation of the shaft 32, the follower 53 engages the high surface 55 of the cam ring 51 and thus the clutch is automatically held in while the shaft 22 is making the half ievolution to open the press, the clutch section 35 being shiftable automatically out by the spring 42, when the fol lower reaches the end of the high surface 54 and moves off such end to the low surface 54. The construction of the clutch forms no part of myinvention and is the invention of a person other than applicant,

and ,hence applicant makes no claim herein thereto. Also applicant makes no claim herein to the solenoid and the two push buttons control illustrated herein as such combination forms the subject matter of my pending application Sr. No. 724,045 filed July ai, 1924..

What I claim is:

1. A pressing machine comprising cooperating pressing elements, one of which is movable toward and from the other, a power member, connections between the power member and the movable element normally arranged in ineffective position and movable automatically into effective position by a preliminary closing movement of the movable element independently of the power member, an actuator for the power member and means for normally holding the movable element from moving toward closed position, said means being connected to the actuator to be moved out of operative positionsand permit the movable element to close and said connections between the power member and the 'movable element to come into effective position.

2. Atpressing machine comprising cooperating pressing elements, one of which is movable toward and from the other, the movable element having the weight thereof arranged so that said element moves by gravity toward closed position, a power member for applying pressure to the movable element, connectlons between the power member and the movable element normally arranged in ineffective position and movable automatically into effective position by a preliminary closing movement of the movable element independently of the power member, an actuator for the power member, and means operated by the actuator for normally holding the movable element from closing movement and4 member and the movable element normally arranged in ineffective position 4and movable automatically into effective position by a preliminary closing movement of the movable element independently of the power member, a cam actuated by the shaft and cooperating with the ower member, a second cam associated with the shaft and connections operated by the second. cam for normally holding the movable element from closing movement and movable to permit the preliminary closing movement of the movable element in advance of the final ac- -tuationof the power member by the first cam.

4. A pressing machine comprising cooperating pressing elements, one of which is movable toward 'and from the other, a power member, connections between the power member and the movable element normally arranged in ineffective position and movable into effective position bya preliminary closin movement of the movable element indepen entlyofv the power member, an intermittently movable actuator coacting with the power member, connections operated by the actuator for holding the movable ele- .ment from closing movement and shiftable movable toward and from the other,`a power member, connections between the power`l member and the movable element to actuate tion before the the movable element including a toggle normally arranged in ineffective position and movable into'effect-ive position by a preliminary closing movement independently of the power member, an intermittently movable actuator having means coacting with the power member and connections between the actuator and the toggle to normally hold the toggle from closing'movement and the movement of the movable element toward closed position, said movable velement being arranged to move when unrestrained toward closed position, the last mentioned connections being operable to release the toggle to permit it to straighten into effective posiower of the actuator is effectively applic 'to the power member.

6. A pressing machine comprising cooperating pressing elements, one of which is movable toward and` from the other, a power member, connections between the power member and the movable element normally arranged in ineffective position and movable into effective position by a preliminary closing movement of the movable element independently of the power member,

an actuator comprising an intermittently movable shaft havino an eccentric.coacting with the power mem er, a crank arm fixe ating presslng elements, one of which is movable toward and from the other, a power member, connections between the power member and the movable element'normally arranged in ineffective position and movable into eHective position by a reliminary closing movement of the mova le elementv independently of the power member, an actuator comprising an intermittently rotatable shaft having an eccentric coacting with the power member and a crank arm fixed to the eccentric and a linkpivotally mounted on the crank arm and connected to a portion of the former connections by a pin-andslot connection to normally hold the movable element from movement toward closed position and movable during actuation of the shaft in advance of the connections which actuate said element.

8. A power machine comprising coacting pressing elements, one of which is movable toward and romthe other, and having a preliminary closing movement, an intermittently movable actuator, a. connection between the actuator and the movable element to eiect the' preliminary closing movement y thereof andy to effect the open1n Jr movementV thereof and a second connectionzbetween the actuator and the movable element arranged to be moved by such preliminary movement,

tion.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name, at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State or New York, this 27thl day of June, 1924.

PHILIP N. BRAUN. 

